Never Say Never
by Captain Kraken
Summary: Beth accepted that Christmas might not mean much in the zombie apocalypse, but appreciation for those you care about does...


I don't own The Walking Dead.

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A/N: First story published in this fandom, so please be kind!

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_Premise: Set six months after 'Still' on December 25__th__, nothing else from the show happens but assume everyone is fine, back together and living in a secure place on the northern outskirts of Appling, GA…_

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**Never Say Never**

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"The hell is this about?" Daryl asked again – Beth was dragging him through the woods away from their warm and cosy building through _snow_. He wasn't impressed.

"Will you quit your whining and just move your ass?" Beth retorted, still pulling him by the arm through the snow.

"There aint no good reason ta be out here, Beth." Daryl said dryly.

"Yes. There is." She argued and he sighed loudly. "We're almost there. Five more minutes." She muttered and he grumped under his breath but let her drag him along through the freezing cold. They kept walking and up ahead Daryl could see a main road – then he looked confused when Beth stopped him a few minutes later.

"What?" He tested and she bit her lip.

"You gotta trust me." She bid and he arched his brow.

"Think I'da trudged through two miles a snow if I didn't?" He grumped and she smiled a little.

"Okay… close your eyes." Beth requested.

"Fer what?" He groaned.

"Please?" She asked gently with her giant eyes looking up at him in that way he'd discovered he didn't have the power to say no to.

"Beth." He huffed.

"I swear I will alert you immediately if I see anything walker-ish. Please? Please?" She asked sweetly and he sighed.

"If I trip, yer in trouble." He muttered and she grinned then he closed his eyes and she carefully led him through the snow by the hand for a couple of minutes then he opened his eyes when she stopped him. He saw that they were at the side of the abandoned road, standing behind a sign post. "What's this 'bout?" He asked her suspiciously and she grinned then pointed behind him and he turned his head and saw a little package wrapped up in brown paper with a white string and a little card leaning against a small tree. "What's that?" He asked.

"I have no idea. Why don't you look?" She beamed because she couldn't stop herself. He looked at her suspiciously then picked it up and looked at the card.

_To Daryl_

_Merry Christmas_

_From Santa_

_P.S. Sorry I'm so late._

He looked up at her with narrowed eyes.

"You makin' fun?" Daryl asked gruffly and she shook her head.

"I'd never do that." Beth assured softly and he knew that already.

"Why here?" He asked her confused and she smiled then pointed to the sign.

"We're in South Carolina." She replied stunning him as he stared at her wide-eyed in understanding then she handed him a piece of paper.

"What's this?" He asked confused - not having time to process this...

"Look." She smiled and he looked at the paper where scrawled in her neatest Sunday handwriting it said:

_This document gives Daryl Dixon full ownership of Georgia Sunflower, 'Nelly'._

_Signed,_

_Beth Greene_

He looked up at her disbelieving seeing her smiling.

"She was my horse." Beth revealed. "But now she's yours." Beth informed him. "So, you left Georgia, Santa finally tracked you down and you own a pony. Three things you can't say 'I've never' about anymore." She smirked and he laughed in disbelief.

"That's why ya dragged my ass all the way out here?" He asked her with a fond smirk and she nodded smiling.

"You don't have to have hope or believe anything good will happen. I can do that for both of us." Beth responded caringly and he took a long breath as he watched her, his insides melting because this was by far the sweetest thing that had ever happened to him.

"I aint got nothin' ta give ya back." Daryl replied surprisingly quietly with sad eyes and she shook her head.

"You give me so much every day, Daryl." Beth countered. "You taught me how to track, shoot your crossbow, you taught me how to defend myself… you teach me all the time. You let me learn how to survive. That's worth everything to me." She explained sincerely. "I just… wanted to show you… even if it was in a stupid way that I… I appreciate you… and everything you do." She stuttered out and if it was anyone else, he'd be uncomfortable with all of the 'feelings' but over the months, he'd told her plenty of things. More than he'd ever told anyone else, and it was fine. She never broke his trust, never hurt him, never mocked him, never did anything but be the best friend he'd ever had…

"Well… 'side from the freezin' cold…" He teased fondly and she giggled. "This was real sweet, Beth." He said sincerely and she smiled happily then he opened the brown paper and found a thick, soft and warm long-sleeved round-neck black sweater which pleased him as he didn't have much by way of warm clothing. He unfolded it then in the centre sat a big bag of peanut butter M&Ms making him laugh in delight as they'd always been his favourite. "Well I'll be…" He smirked and she smiled. "Thanks." He said delighted.

"Don't thank me. It was all Santa. He's been busy fightin' walkers, hence the tardiness." She smirked and he chuckled and nudged her as he got the chocolate bag open.

"I aint sharin' these so don't tell nobody I got 'em." Daryl smirked, popping some in his mouth then groaning in pleasure and she giggled.

"Not even me?" She asked with big innocent eyes and a fake-innocent grin making him pretend to think about it.

"Tell ya what? You hit that bit a green paint on that tree with an arrow an' I'll share." Daryl smirked, holding out his crossbow to her and she shot him a devious grin then hoisted it up and aimed. "You aint gon' hit it." He denied, taking another couple in his mouth – there was a whoosh of air from the release of the bow and he rolled his eyes seeing it smack in the centre of the green paint. "Lucky shot." He retorted holding out a few M&Ms to her and she giggled and accepted then stuck them in her mouth, smiling at the sweet flavour she hadn't even realised she'd been missing.

"No, I just had the best teacher." She countered with a wink, handing the crossbow back to him and he gave her a ghost of a smile. "Have you ever built a snowman?" She asked and he gave her this look that said 'what do you think?' making her smirk. "Then let's get to it, Mr Dixon." She grinned and he sniggered disbelieving, knowing she'd be getting her way for the foreseeable future…

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A/N: Just a little fluff, let me know what you think :)


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